A New Day
by 087-B
Summary: Dipper and Mabel struggle to survive in the new world as they try to help keep one little girl safe. Their group is starved for help and broken beyond repair. With the long road ahead, there is danger around every corner. They must find out what to do and who to trust, before there's no time left. Contains language and some blood and gore. Warning!: Many deaths in this story!
1. Introduction

**Note: Before anyone starts telling me that this should be in the (currently non-existent) Gravity Falls/Walking Dead crossover section, I must ask this: does that really matter right now? For one thing it won't get very popular in a section that doesn't even exist (at the time of writing this intro chapter), and I've also seen other stories that aren't in crossover sections that are CLEARLY crossovers, and those got popular pretty fast. So ignore the fact that this is a crossover and focus on the story of a man, two twins, and a girl in a hat.**

**Readers, I present to you: A New Day**

* * *

**A New Day - Introduction**

Dipper silently trudged down the forest path along with the rest of the survivors. He gave off a solemn expression, much like everyone else. He couldn't believe everything that happened in that single day. He simply let his hatchet hit the ground and dragged it along by the handle, its blade making a small dirt trail as it went along. In fact, that was probably the only noise to be heard during that time of silence, the hatchet creating its crunching sounds as it was dragged along the dirt path that was covered with leaves. The only other noise he could hear was the sound of everyone walking.

And his breathing. His slow, painful breathing.

So many thoughts went through Dipper's mind as he walked. Earlier that day, he finally thought he could relax, get away from all of those walkers. The promise of dinner made him think of finally settling down after three months of all of this…what was the word…

Shit. Yep, that described it.

But then dinner came, and he ate meat. Not just any meat, human meat. **Human. Meat. **He had never felt so traumatized after consuming something only a cannibal would eat, and without even thinking about it. He just shoved meat in his mouth and swallowed it. At first it was good…but then…

A good friend prevented his sister, Mabel, from eating the meat, as well as a new friend they had met. But he sadly fell victim to that evil meal. Dipper knew how bad it was to eat human meat from prior knowledge. People could get sick just from eating one bite, maybe die, even. He was worried about what would happen to him as time progressed. He wouldn't want to die in the middle of the night and reanimate, just to eat his sister.

As they all continued the walk back to the motel, Dipper looked over at his sister. She looked to be in utter disgust, and he couldn't blame her. Not only had she almost eaten human meat, but she witnessed the horrors that followed dinner. Said horrors occurred in the meat locker, a place neither twin was soon to forget. Dipper didn't want to think about it, neither did Mabel, but they knew they couldn't just brush off today. It was just…awful.

Dipper then turned to look at his new friend, a girl by the name of Clementine. She wore a small white dress-shirt with yellow-grey striped under-sleeves, black pants, and white shoes. Her most distinctive feature was the blue hat on her head with a white front, a signature blue 'D' on the front of it. He wondered how she felt after all of this. She was four years younger than him and Mabel, so she clearly must've been more traumatized than they were. She was having such a good day, she was saved from the meat, and she (somehow) even managed to ignore the events of the meat locker. And yet, she must've felt like she still went through all of those horrors, like she was having a bad day, like she ate the meat, like she witnessed the events of the meat locker.

Or maybe worse, fell victim.

"Hey, Dipper, do you mind?" A voice sounded behind the twelve-year-old boy. He turned to face a taller man with a jade-green shirt on that had beige under-sleeves. The man also wore blue jeans and black shoes. He also had a mustache and a mullet, as well as a red and white baseball cap that had a lot of dirt stains on it.

"What is it, Kenny?" Dipper asked.

"It's just the noise." The man known as Kenny said, gesturing to the hatchet being dragged along the ground. "It's annoying, plus it could attract walkers."

"Oh, sorry."

Dipper hadn't even thought about walkers for the last hour or so, not even when he saw then topple over the fence to reach the dairy farm. He shuddered at the thought of the dairy farm as he put force into lifting his hatchet up into his palms, then over his shoulder, his ears adjusting to the new silence that followed. He took another quick look at Kenny, who was still limping along the trail. He took pity on the man.

_I mean, he _did _take a gunshot to the gut earlier…_

Dipper looked away from the man, looking down solemnly. Kenny still held the left side of his gut and hunched over as he did, trying to keep blood from pouring out. The bullet wasn't too deep, so it was easily removed. Meanwhile, Dipper continued to wonder what Kenny's family was thinking about the events of that day. Kenny had a wife and son, both of whom witnessed the man getting shot. His wife was horrified, and his son was as well, obviously.

By this point, Dipper felt his thoughts were becoming pointless. Sure, he took pity on everyone at the moment. A lot of loss and trauma came out of the dairy farm, sure, but his thoughts were slowly becoming what obviously just happened over the last hour or two, and he knew after a bit his mind would go blank. The apocalypse gave him a lot of time to think, and he didn't want to stop thinking now, or else he'd-

…_wait, what am I even thinking about right now?_

Dipper mentally shook himself out of his thoughts and decided to stare at the sky as he continued walking. It was empty, as usual, save for a few clouds, though like the sky, they were dark and hard to see. A few stars also littered the sky as well, but they seemed very dim as they loomed over the survivors. Dipper sighed and continued walking before feeling something in his groin area.

"Uh, could you guys give me a minute?" He asked the group. "I sorta kinda…have to _go_." The others looked at each other with confused looks on their faces before realizing what he meant.

"Uh, yeah. Go on." Kenny said. "Just hurry back, and yell if you need something."

Dipper walked off into a slightly deeper part of the woods, until he was somewhat far from the group. He looked around before standing in front of a tree and unzipping his pants. As he continued 'doing his business', he heard growling coming from somewhere nearby. He quickly finished what he was doing and turned to the source of the noise, seeing an undead humanoid crawling towards him, clawing at the dirt and bloody growls emitting from its maw. Dipper barely let out a gasp as he reached for his bloody hatchet. He grabbed it and lifted it into the air as the walker outstretched a hand to grab the boy.

_Just like Ben said. The only way to kill them is to destroy the brain._

He brought the hatchet down on the walker's head, landing a nice chop to its brain. The outstretched hand went limp and fell to the ground along with the slightly lifted head of the walker when it was 'alive'. Dipper sighed and placed his foot on the walker's head and grabbed the handle of the hatchet with both of his hands. Then he immediately began to pull the weapon out. It took a bit of force, but once he did, he looked at the dirty blade. He could still see his reflection in the blade, as well as in the fresh walker blood on said blade. Whenever he looked at his reflection on the blade of his weapon, he saw himself, just a normal kid. When looking at his reflection in the blood, however, he saw a killer, but that's not what he wanted to see.

He wanted to see a survivor in that bloody reflection.

Dipper sighed and let the hatchet fall to the ground. He stood still for a moment to think, before grabbing the hatchet again and walking back towards the group. He looked at the sky again and found it to be filled with clouds, no stars to be seen. He sighed again and solemnly walked back to the group. Things weren't looking up.

_And to think, all this…this…__**shit **__hit the fan only three months ago…_

**-(End Of Chapter)-**


	2. Act 1-Part 1: Out Of The Frying Pan

**A New Day - Act I - A New Day**

**Part I - Out Of The Frying Pan**

_3 Months Earlier…_

The last thing Dipper remembered before blacking out was the bus swerving madly left and right before it went off of the road and down the hill, rolling and crashing before finally smashing into a thicket of trees.

He slowly woke up and blinked a few times, then began to look around, trying to get his bearings. He was upside down, laying on the ceiling of the destroyed, crashed bus. He got into a crawling position and looked out one of the broken windows. Evening had set in the sky, meaning nightfall wasn't too far off. Dipper looked around inside the bus again. It was dark as hell, even with the dim light from the sky, and he couldn't tell if anyone was inside the wreckage or not. The thought of people made him wonder if Mabel got out of this unscathed. He started to crawl forwards but fell down once he felt the indescribable pain in his right arm. Whenever he tried to move it, it would crack or stiffen, causing him serious pain. Regardless, he still had to get out of here and find Mabel. His head hurt, too, and he couldn't fully remember what happened, why the bus crashed, where he was going, what he was doing, or anything else for that matter.

As he started to 'limp-crawl' with his good arm, Dipper heard faint growling coming from somewhere in the bus, somewhere in front of him. Obviously not wanting to deal with a ravenous creature from the forest (as he already met one too many of those), the boy decided to try and escape through a window, only to find the windows were too small for him to fit through. Plus, they still had some sharp shards of broken glass sticking out from them, which obviously made it a more dangerous feat to escape through them.

Dipper figured the only other ways out were through the sky hatch, the emergency exit in the back, or through the doors in front. The sky hatch wasn't of much use, as the bus was upside down, meaning the front and back were his only options, and if those were locked, he'd either have to risk the windows or stay in there for an indefinite amount of time. Considering the fact he heard some kind of growling from what he thought was the front of the bus, he decided to try the back exit first. He turned around and began to crawl once again.

He arrived at the back and saw the glass windows on the door completely smashed and broken. Dipper squinted in the darkness to try and locate the door handle, luckily finding it quickly. He immediately reached for it and took hold of it, turning it to open the door. He was surprised it turned with such ease.

But to his horror, the handle broke off with such ease.

He stared at the broken handle wide-eyed for some time before he sighed and regained control of his thoughts. With all other options exhausted, he made a break for the front, trying not to think of what horrid creature was lurking there. Along the way, he noticed something wedged into the floor…err, ceiling.

A hatchet, but not just any hatchet.

Wendy's hatchet.

The boy remembered thee day he, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy explored the underground bunker. The teenage girl climbed a tree and used her hatchet to activate a lever that opened a stairwell leading underground. Dipper knew she was on the bus. He wondered if she made it out okay or if her lifeless body was somewhere within the bus…

He ignored the bad thoughts and proceeded to rip the hatchet out from the ground and held onto it incase he needed to use it to protect himself.

He finally made it to the front of the bus and could barely make out the doors. He was about to continue forward when he heard the growling again, this time a bit louder. He looked to his right and the sight he saw shocked him, nearly making him vomit, or faint, or both.

It was the bus driver. Or he thought it was. He…err, 'it', was impaled through the chest by a large metal rod as it lay on its back. Its head slowly turned towards Dipper, skin gone pale and a completely dead look in its eyes. Noticing the boy, the "bus driver" outstretched a dead hand and clawed the air in front of Dipper, trying to attack him, its growl getting louder. Its black suit tainted with blood and its hand appearing boney and frail, Dipper nearly screamed at the sight. The, what he thought to be undead, bus driver was too close to the front doors, blocking him from escape.

_Oh, God…how do I get out of here?! What is this…this…__**thing**__?!_

Dipper's thoughts were interrupted as he fell back, the undead driver nearly clawing him in his right eye. The boy continued to think about how the hell he was supposed to escape when his eyes widened. He lowered his eyes down to the hatchet, then raised them back up to face the undead driver.

He looked at the hatchet again, then the driver.

Hatchet. Driver.

Hatchet. Driver.

Hatchet. Driver.

_No…__**no**__…do I…do I really have to do…__**that**__?!_

He slowly started to hyperventilate. He had never killed anything. Not in a scary story he made up, not in a video game, not in Gravity Falls, even.

But his sister was missing, and he had to find her.

With slight hesitation, the boy firmly grasped the hatchet tightly in both of his hands, not caring that one of his arms may or may not have been broken. Wincing a bit at the pain, Dipper raised the hatchet up, and with a forced grunt and a quick hold of his breath, he forcefully brought down the hatchet and landed a bloody blow to the forehead of the undead bus driver, blood coating the blade of the axe as well as the front of his shirt and his face. He panted as everything went silent.

He had just killed a man, or what was left of one.

But he wasn't sure if it was dead yet. With a grunt, a moan, and a wince of pain, Dipper ripped the hatchet out of the driver's head, then repeated the process. He dealt several blows to the undead driver's head, and by the end of the fourth blow, Dipper wasn't sure if there was any more head to hit. The boy panted again, covered in more blood than he was before. He yanked out the hatchet again and crawled to the front doors, leaving the deceased driver behind. He saw that they were busted open, a slight opening big enough for him to crawl through. With a small smile, Dipper left the bus and stood up. His eyes adjusted to the evening sunlight as he tried to regain his balance. Then, once he was set and the hatchet in his hand, Dipper proceeded off into the woods to try and locate his twin sister.

* * *

"Mabel!"

His voice had gone slightly hoarse and fatigue slowly began to overtake him. Dipper continued through the woods after what seemed like hours of walking and almost fell over from being tired. Finally, the boy slid down against a tree nearby, letting the hatchet drop to the ground. His eyelids went heavy and sleep overcame him.

It was only 30 minutes before he heard the gunshot. That fateful gunshot. Immediately the boy was awake. He grabbed his hatchet and ran off into the woods towards the direction of the gunshot. He barely avoided another undead person in front of him, almost falling back. Dipper shoved the hatchet into its gut and forcefully pushed, sending the undead person to the ground. It wasn't dead, but he didn't have time to kill it, and frankly, he didn't want to kill again. Then he sprinted around it and ran once more.

He arrived in a small clearing and saw a broken railing near a highway on top of a hill. At the bottom of the hill was a crashed police car. Sitting against the side of it was an African-American man with black hair, a black connecting beard and mustache, a blue short-sleeve shirt with a white long-sleeve undershirt, brown pants, and a pair of dark gray shoes. He held a shotgun and was panting heavily, a headless body of a police officer in front of him, blood pooling around it. Dipper's gut churned as he tried not to vomit.

"Oh…oh my God…" He muttered. The man heard him and turned to face him.

"It was…it was an accident!" The man stammered. "He tried to attack me, and…and I just…I just-"

"I had to do it too." Dipper said bluntly. "I'm out looking for my sister. Have you, uh…seen a girl in a crazy pinkish red sweater with a rainbow on it?"

"No, uh, sorry." The man said. The bushes then rustled, a few more undead people stumbling out of them. Dipper let out a gasp as he ran to the middle of the clearing.

"We gotta go!" He said to the man in a panicky voice. The man tried to get up but quickly fell over in pain.

"Ow, shit!" He said. "My leg is fucked!" Dipper looked around for a moment, then helped the man up.

"Come on." He said. "There's a fence up there." He pointed to the top of another hill nearby. "If we climb over, maybe we can get to safety."

The man through the empty shotgun aside and slowly limped alongside Dipper, who, completely ignoring the pain in his arm, slowly stayed by his side, hatchet firmly held in both of his hands. Luckily, neither of them had to off a single undead humanoid, making it to the fence with ease. The man climbed up first and held out an arm for Dipper to grab, who took it. The man pulled the boy up and both landed on the other side of the fence. They both got away from the fence as the undead people began to slam on the fence, trying to break it down and reach the two.

Gunshots. Two gunshots. In the distance.

The undead people were attracted away from the fence, now moving towards the origin point of the gunshots, their growling slowly fading away into silence. The boy and the man both panted as they backed up to the side of a porch. Looking around, they saw they were in the backyard of a house, a tree nearby with a treehouse in it and an in-ground pool nearby as well. They both stood up and wiped what blood they had on their clothes off.

"Wow…" Dipper muttered.

"Thanks for the help." The man said.

"No problem, mister…" Dipper thought for a moment.

"It's Lee." The man said.

"I'm Dipper. Dipper Pines." Dipper introduced himself with a small smile.

"Dipper? What kind of a name is Dipper?" Lee asked.

"It's a…well it's a long story." Dipper said blushing a bit. "But that's not important right now."

"Right." Lee said. "For now, let's go find some help."

**-(End Of Chapter)-**


	3. Act 1-Part 2: Adventures In Babysitting

**AN: Hey guys, quick Author's Note. I just wanted to say that, while it's not a lot (and it's mostly guests), thanks for all the positive feedback. I really appreciate it. Feedback like that makes me want to write more.**

**Another thing: These author's notes will only come at the beginnings and ends of each act, or whenever the story calls for an Author's Note, or if I need to inform you guys of an update.**

**And one final thing: If you guys have been wondering, yes, Act I is called "A New Day". Don't ask why.**

**Now, on with the show!**

* * *

**A New Day - Act I - A New Day**

**Part II: Adventures In Babysitting**

Questions.

A shit-ton of questions filled the boy's mind as soon as he stood up. He paced around quickly on the lawn, it's grass appearing freshly cut. How did this whole thing happen? Why are people undead? What cause them to become undead? Where the hell was his sister?!

"This door's unlocked."

Dipper's thoughts were interrupted as he looked up at Lee, who was standing on the porch, sliding a glass door open. He quickly followed him and the two entered the house.

"Coming in, okay?" Lee called out to whoever was inside. "Don't shoot! I've got a kid, and we aren't intruders…or one of them."

They both looked around the house. At first, it seemed normal and untouched. Then Lee noticed the large puddle of somewhat dried blood in front of the kitchen. Dipper noticed the overturned, and somewhat destroyed, furniture in the living room, covered in dried blood. The TV was still on, showing nothing but quiet static on the screen.

"Man, looks like these people need more help than we do…" Lee muttered. He limped into the kitchen, nearly slipping on the blood puddle, grabbing the counter to balance himself. Dipper, on the other hand, lost his footing, slipping on the blood and falling on the ground, landing on his bad arm. He winced in pain, nearly letting out a scream of bloody murder, before pulling himself up off the ground, grabbing his bloody hatchet, then following Lee into the kitchen.

_Beep._

Lee looked out the kitchen window, seeing the tree house in the backyard, while Dipper searched the drawers for anything useful. He came across a walkie-talkie in one of them, camouflage colored with some barely noticeable blood stains. While it wasn't too interesting, he decided to attach it to the rim of his shorts. Lee saw a cup of fresh water on the counter. Taking it, he turned to Dipper.

"Want some?" He asked with a small smile. "It's water."

"It's alright." Dipper said. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, you take it." Dipper replied with a small smile. Lee smiled back.

"Thanks, Dip." Lee drank the cup of water before tossing the now empty cup into the trash, even though such a thing like that didn't really matter anymore.

Definitely not in their situation.

_Beep._

"What's that beeping?" Lee asked.

"It might be an answering machine." Dipper suggested.

The two went back into the living room and saw a small answering machine with a blinking red light on a button. It looked so unnatural, so foreign in this environment, considering the fact that it wasn't covered in blood and wasn't damaged in anyway. Lee, with slight hesitation, pressed the button.

The machine sprang to life.

[Three new messages.]

_[Message One, left at 5:43 PM]_

_"Hey, Sandra, this is Diana. We're still in Savannah. Ed had a little 'incident' with some crazy guy near the hotel so we had to get him back to the ER and have it checked out. Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine, and I promise we'll be back in time before your spring break!"_

The woman's voice was unrecognizable to either of the two, but considering the woman's husband was attacked by a 'crazy guy', they assumed the worst.

_[Message Two, left at 11:19 PM]_

_"Oh my God, finally! I don't know if you tried to reach us; all the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, please, just leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Marietta. I've got to get back to the hospital. Please let me know that you're safe."_

Once again, the two feared the worse. They could only imagine what became of the baby sitter, Sandra, as well as the little girl, Clementine.

_[Message Three, left at 6:51 AM]_

_"Clementine? Baby, if you can hear this, call the police. That's 9-1-1. We love you… we love you… we love y-"_

The final message cut off abruptly, making both of their hearts sink. The girl's parents were dead. They had to be. Dipper looked at the ground in silence while Lee inspected a photo of the girl and her family.

"Daddy?"

Dipper gasped in surprise as he realized the walkie-talkie had came to life, a little girl's voice coming from it. Dipper didn't recognize it, and neither did Lee.

"Hear, lemme see that." Lee whispered, beckoning for the walkie-talkie. Dipper handed it too him, and the man spoke into it. "Hello?"

"You need to be quiet." The girl said.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked.

"I'm okay." The girl replied. "They tried to get me. But I'm hiding until my parents come home."

Lee approached the porch door and looked out of it towards the tree house, then walked back towards the living room. "What's your name?"

"I'm Clementine." The girl replied. "This is my house." Dipper could've sworn her heard some other quiet, muffled voice in the background behind Clementine talking and the walkie-talkie's static.

"Hi, Clementine. I'm Lee." Lee said. He looked around again. "Where are your parents?"

"They took a trip and left me with Sandra." Clementine said. "They're in Savannah, I think. Where the boats are."

Lee limped towards the kitchen window, followed by Dipper. Lee spoke into the walkie-talkie again. "Are you safe?"

"I'm outside in my tree house." Clementine explained. "They can't get in."

"That's smart." Lee looked out the window at the tree house. The door opened as the girl peeked out.

"See? Can you see me?" She asked. "I can see you through the window." She smiled and waved. Lee returned the gesture.

Suddenly, Clementine screamed and retreated into her tree house. Both Lee and Dipper barely had a chance to react before a red-headed female undead person pounced on Lee, taking them both to the floor. Dipper screamed. He wanted to attack it with his hatchet, but that meant he might kill it, and he didn't want to kill again.

But if he didn't, that meant Lee would die because he did nothing.

But if he swung that hatchet, he could risk hitting Lee.

After a small moment of thinking, Dipper forcefully kicked the side of the undead female and ran, sending it to the floor off of Lee. The man got up and tried to get away, but the undead female grabbed his ankle and took him back down. Quickly in retaliation, Lee kicked the undead girl away from him. He crawled towards the porch door. The undead girl quickly caught up to him (somehow), crawling on to him and trying to rip out his jugular. He kicked it off.

Then the sliding door opened.

"Here!" Clementine stood in the doorway, trembling a little and holding out a hammer.

Lee grabbed it and stood up. Then Dipper appeared again and slammed his hatchet into the undead female's side, sending it to the floor yet again. Lee put one foot on its chest and slammed the hammer into its head.

Then again.

And again.

And a fourth time.

The hammer got stuck. Lee ripped it out. Blood pooled out.

Clementine took a step back as Dipper and Lee regained their composure. They were all silent for a moment. Maybe two moments. Three moments, actually.

"Did you kill it?" Clementine asked, breaking the silence.

"I think something else did, before me." Lee said.

"Are you both alright?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lee said, huffing a breath. Clementine stared at Dipper, unfamiliar with him.

"You must be Clementine, I guess." Dipper said with a small smile. He held out his hand. "I'm Dipper. Dipper Pines." Clementine giggled and shook it.

"That's a funny name." She said, making Dipper blush. Then she got serious again. They were all silent again.

Then, footsteps. Coming from the porch. Up the stairs, towards the door.

"Hey Clem, I thought I heard you talking to…some…one…" The new figure was silent. Dipper was in utter shock. Then, the new figure and Dipper broke the silence.

"Dipper…"

"…Mabel."

**-(End Of Chapter)-**


	4. Act 1-Part 3: In Your Charge

**A New Day - Act I - A New Day**

**Part III: In Your Charge**

Everyone was silent for the moment.

Then, Dipper and Mabel ran to each other and embraced in a hug. Not an awkward sibling hug.

A genuine hug.

When they pulled away, the questions came.

"Where did you go?!" Dipper quickly asked.

"I saw you were unconscious, so I went through one of the broken windows to find some help…" Mabel said, feeling a little guilty for leaving Dipper alone. "…then I found Clementine. She didn't trust me at first, but then she let me hide in her tree house. So what about you? Who's this guy?" She pointed at Lee.

"Oh, Mabel, this is Lee. I helped him and he helped me." Dipper explained. "Lee, this is my twin sister Mabel."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Lee!" Mabel said with her normal goofy, yet enthusiastic, smile.

"Same, Mabel." Lee said. Then he knelt down to Clementine's level. "So…you've been all by yourself through this?"

"Yeah, and I really want my parents to come home now." Clementine said.

"…I don't know what happened before all this…" Lee began. "But I'll look after you until we find them." Clementine thought for a moment.

"…what should we do now?" She asked.

"We need to find help before it gets dark." Lee said.

"It's not safe at night." Mabel chimed in. "I was with Clementine for a day and…" She looked at the ground and shivered. "The screams…" Dipper put a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the pain in his other arm as his hatchet added weight to it.

Lee took Clementine's hand. "Come on, you three." They stepped outside.

"Stay close to me."

Dipper didn't know it yet, but he'd never forget those words.

* * *

"Walkers!"

Mabel's goofy smile appeared again.

"What are you saying, Mabel?" Dipper asked. The four of them were in the backyard now, going towards a gate that lead to the front.

"Let's call those monsters walkers!" Mabel said again. "Cause they walk super slowly!" Dipper chuckled. His sister's enthusiasm really lightened the mood in the current situation.

"That's actually really clever." Lee said. Then they heard voices from beyond the gate. Two of them, both male. They had their backs to the four and were trying to push away some vehicles.

"Man, we ain't never gettin' home at this rate." One of them said.

"Come on man, just push. We can do this." The second one said.

The four continued onwards, but then Clementine stopped. Lee knelt down to face her.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"…what if my parents come back, and I'm not here?" Clementine asked.

"I won't leave you alone." Lee reassured her. Clementine smiled. "Now come on. Let's get help."

They all walked out of the gate and got a better look at the two men. One was a slightly overweight man with light brown somewhat messy hair and a white messy short-sleeve shirt with blue jeans, the other was a man with a green button-up short-sleeve shirt and black jeans.

"Hey man!" Lee called out in general. The two men turned around in shock.

"Holy shit!" The green-shirted one said.

"D-Don't eat us!" The messy-shirted one said.

"Relax, we're not gonna hurt you." Lee said. The others calmed down a bit.

"Phew, I thought you and the little ones were all gonna give us the chomp." The green-shirted one said. "Name's Shawn. Shawn Greene." The other man smiled and knelt down to the kids' level.

"I'm Chet." He said with a small wave. Dipper and Mabel waved slightly while Clementine smiled shyly.

"Name's Lee." Lee said. "The girl in the hat is Clementine, and the twins are Dipper and Mabel."

"We need, like, a lot of help." Mabel said, flailing her arms a little to gain some attention, not for no reason, but so the adults could hear her.

"Are you four trying to get out of here?" Shawn asked. "Cause you should. Those things are all over the damn place." He took a breath. "I haven't seen anything as gnarly as this neighborhood since downtown Atlanta, fifteen miles back."

"Of course we're trying to get out, but we haven't really figured out how yet." Dipper explained. Then he realized.

Atlanta? Atlanta, Georgia? Where was that bus going exactly?!

"Well, it's best not to be out in the open like this." Shawn explained. "How about you help us clear the way, and we'll take you and your kids out of here and back to my family's farm. It's a lot safer there."

"Oh, I'm not their dad, I'm…" Lee thought for a moment. Should he tell the truth or lie? "…just some guy."

"Just some guy? You mean these kids are alone?" Shawn asked.

"I'm just looking after them until we find their parents." Lee explained.

"Come on, we're close to clearing the way." Shawn said. "My truck is right here." He pointed to a red truck in front of him.

"Wow, talk about convenient." Dipper said with a small smile. Lee knelt down to Clementine's level once again.

"What do you want to do?" He asked, a tone of concern in his voice. Clementine looked at the front door of her house.

"I…" She began.

"Shit, them monsters coming!" Chet shouted. "We gotta go!"

"Lee, quick! Let's go!" Shawn said. Dipper and Mabel both watched as Lee and Shawn began pushing a green car out of the way of Shawn's red truck. Chet watched from the side of the truck to see how close the 'walkers' were getting.

"Dipper, maybe something in your book can explain what's happening?!" Mabel asked as she and Dipper became frightened. Dipper was already flipping through his book to try and find something.

"Nothing on the zombie page really explains what's happening!" He said.

"Come on! Let's get outta here!" Chet said. The two twins looked up and saw the truck was ready to go. Chet jumped in the back, Shawn got in the driver's seat, and Lee and Clementine were up front. Dipper and Mabel raced to the truck and hopped in beside Lee and Clementine. Then the truck quickly sped off down the road.

"For just some guy, seems like you saved a ton of lives today." Shawn said with a smile.

* * *

Many hours past. How many, Dipper couldn't tell. He was stressed. Not tired, but stressed. He stared at the starry sky out the window. Mabel was still wide awake, though it was clear she wanted to fall asleep and wake up from this horrible nightmare. Dipper really wished she was in her "crazy-optimistic-and-enthusiastic" mode right now. Finally, after passing many rows of corn, Shawn finally pulled into a farm area with a barn and a big white country-style house with a green roof. The fence around the farm looked rickety yet stable, but it was definitely not something to keep the walkers out. All of them exited the car.

"Hey Shawn, I'm gonna head home tonight." Chet said. "Mama's gonna be in a snit."

"Alright." Shawn said, smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" Chet gave the thumbs up.

"It was nice to meet ya'll." He said. Then he walked off.

An older man in a green farmers uniform exited the house. He and Shawn hugged.

"Finally. Didn't expect you'd be home this late." The man said.

"I wouldn't have made it home without Chet." Shawn said. They pulled away.

"I see you've brought a few guests." The older man noticed the presence of Lee, Clementine, and the Pines twins.

"You're boy's a lifesaver." Lee said.

"Well, glad to know he's of some use." The man said. "Name's Hershel. Hershel Greene."

"Lee." Lee said. "The girl is Clementine, and the twins are Dipper and Mabel."

"Glad to meet ya'll." Hershel explained. "We've got another displaced family of three in the barn, you and your kids can stay the night."

"Oh, these aren't his kids." Shawn explained. "He's just some guy looking after them."

"…do you kids know this man?" Hershel knelt down to the kids' level.

"…yes." They all said, a bit shyly. Dipper and Mabel kind of trusted Lee, but at the same time didn't. At least, not yet.

"…looks like you hurt your leg pretty bad there." Hershel stood back up and said to Lee. He turned to Dipper. "And you and your arm." Dipper completely forgot about his arm. Hershel handed a sling from his pocket to Shawn. "Fix up the boy's arm. It should be healed in the morning if the sling stays on. I'll help Lee and his leg on the porch."

"You got it dad." Shawn said. Lee, Hershel, and Clementine went up onto the porch while Shawn began to wrap Dipper's arm in the sling. The boy winced in pain, but it oddly felt comfortable, his arm being held by the sling.

_Kind if like when you have a cramp in your arm and it hurts to bend it…_

* * *

In the barn, Dipper, Mabel, Lee, and Clementine were laying on the first floor on some blue mats. Mabel had already fallen asleep, Dipper was contemplating thoughts in his mind, and Lee and Clementine were making conversation.

"It smells in here…like…" Clementine thought.

"Shit." Lee stated bluntly. Clementine gasped. "Sorry, shouldn't talk like that."

"That was a swear!" Clementine said in surprise.

"…let's just get some sleep." Lee said. He and Clementine then fell asleep, leaving Dipper alone to his thoughts. He wondered why all of this was happening, and when it would end, _if_ it ended at all.

But he decided not to dwell on it that night, letting fatigue overtake him as he fell asleep.

**-(End Of Chapter)-**


	5. Act 1-Part 4: A Rock And A Hard Place

**A New Day - Act I - A New Day**

**Part IV: A Rock And A Hard Place**

"Hey, get up. It's morning."

Dipper stirred a bit in his sleep before his eyes slowly blinked open repeatedly, adjusting to the sunlight. His vision slowly began to unblur itself, allowing him to make out a figure staring down at him. An older man, around Lee's age, maybe a little over, with a baseball cap, a black mullet and mustache, and a beige short-sleeve shirt. Dipper slowly pulled himself up and saw Mabel and Clementine already awake with Lee pulling himself up as well. Dipper's vision started to adjust again, making him rub his eyes.

"Ugh, I'm itchy." Clementine said, scratching her arms and her head.

"Well you just slept in a barn, little lady." The man replied. "Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair." He smiled as Clementine gasped in surprise and slight fear. "But I bet your daddy scared 'em all away, huh?" He gestured to Lee.

"Oh, uh, I'm not their dad." Lee said. "Name's Lee."

"I'm Kenny." The man replied with a small grin.

"I'm Dipper, and this is my sister Mabel." Dipper said, gesturing to Mabel who was grinning obliviously.

"Heh heh, it's hard to think about zombies with caterpillars on your face." She said as she felt the fuzzy bugs crawling over her cheeks and forehead.

"I'm Clementine." Clementine said a bit shyly. Suddenly, a boy who looked about a couple years younger than Dipper appeared at the entrance of the barn. He had short brown hair and was wearing a plaid button-up shirt with a white shirt underneath and navy blue jeans.

"Dad! Come on!" The boy said. "We're gonna build a fence! It's gonna be super awesome!" He ran off towards the Greene's house. Dipper watched him run off.

He's like the guy version of Mabel…I wonder…

"We better get going, or we won't hear the end of it." Kenny said. They all walked out of the barn. "That's my boy, Ken Junior. We call him Duck, though."

"Duck?" Dipper asked in confusion.

"Yeah. Nothing bothers him, like water off a duck's back, y'know?" Kenny said.

"That's a valuable trait lately." Lee commented.

"No kidding." Kenny agreed. "But frankly, I think it's because he's dumb as a bag of hammers."

"Dad!" Ken Junior-err, Duck called impatiently from the front porch of the house.

"But he makes up for it with enthusiasm." Kenny said. "Kinda like the girl here, what's-her-name." He pointed to Mabel.

"Mabel." Mabel said with a goofy grin. They made it to the front of the house where a blonde-haired woman was checking in on Duck. The woman wore a yellow shirt with pink flowers on it.

"Word is you're on your way to Macon?" Kenny asked.

"My family's from there." Lee said.

"Well Macon's on the way and, personally, I'd appreciate the company of a guy who could knock a couple of heads together, if you catch my drift." Kenny said.

"Sure, we'll go." Lee said with a smile. "What about you three kids?"

"Macon sounds good." Dipper said with a small grin.

"Agreed." Mabel said with a swing of her arm. Clementine smiled and nodded. Kenny turned to the woman and Duck.

"Katjaa, this here is Lee. The twins are Dipper and Mabel, and the girl in the hat here is Clementine." Kenny said. The woman known as Katjaa turned to face Clem and smiled.

"That is a very pretty name!" She said.

"Thanks." Clementine smiled at Katjaa. Dipper made note of Katjaa's name and the accent in her voice. From his guess, she was a Belgian-American. Shawn approached them.

"Alright guys, we've gotta get to work today, like right now." He explained. "I'll be working on reinforcing the fence around the farm."

"Can I help? Can I help?" Duck asked enthusiastically.

"Eh, I guess I could use a foreman to sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break." Shawn said. He walked off to the backyard, followed by Duck.

"Alright, I'm gonna go work on my pickup." Kenny said. "See ya around, Lee." He walked over to a blue pickup near the entrance of the farm.

"I'm gonna go have a look around." Lee told the kids. "Mabel, Clementine, why don't you stick with Katjaa and have some girl time?"

"Okay." Clementine said with a smile. Mabel copied the gesture as they sat on a hay-bale near Katjaa.

"What about you, Dipper?" Lee asked the boy. "Wanna have a look around with me?"

"I'm fine." Dipper said. "Personally I'd like to just relax in the shade." He smiled and stepped on to the porch, smiling at Lee, who returned the gesture and walked off. Dipper sat on the green rocking chair on the porch and took out the Journal #3. He decided to document the current situation and his thoughts on the matter. Opening to a blank page and taking a pencil from his pocket, he began to write.

_July 21st, 2014_

_It's officially 2 days into what I call "The Outbreak". My sister Mabel and I have joined a man named Lee and a girl named Clementine to survive the walkers._

_The walkers are undead humanoids appropriately named after their behavior. They walk incredibly slowly and they seem to feast on human flesh. They're everywhere, as far as I can tell. Whenever they try to bite a human, they usually go for the neck, the wrists, or the ankles, at least from what I have observed. I don't know much about these creatures, or how one becomes a walker, but I do know they are dangerous, and that they-_

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

Dipper dropped the book and pencil in surprise as he heard the scream. He recognized the voice.

Shawn.

"Go! I'll get my gun!" Dipper heard Hershel say from the barn. He watched as he ran from the barn and into the house. The boy then got up and ran around the side of the house to find the tractor on Shawn's ankle, two walkers trying to reach him from the other side of the fence. Duck watched from the seat of the tractor before a walker appeared from behind him and grabbed his shoulders, trying to bit into his neck.

"AAH! HELP! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!" Duck screamed.

Dipper sprinted over, unsure of who to help. Shawn or Duck? Duck or Shawn? He watched as Lee and Kenny ran over to Duck, pulling him away from the walker. Mabel and Clementine joined him, watching in fright.

"LEE! KENNY!" Shawn screamed. "HELP ME, PLEASE!" Kenny ran off with Duck in fright, worried about what to do. Lee ran towards Shawn to help, with Dipper going as well.

But it was too late.

The walkers broke through the fence. One bit into Shawn's trapped leg. The other bit into his neck. Dipper watched in horror as the scene unfolded right in front of him. Then, one gunshot went off, killing one of the walkers. Another one went off, killing the second walker. A third walker appeared as Hershel fired the gun again, killing it. He threw the gun aside as he ran to Shawn's lifeless body and knelt down by it. He checked for a pulse.

Nothing.

"Shawn?" Hershel said. "Shawn, come on boy, speak to me!"

Nothing. Silence.

Hershel narrowed his eyes as he stood up, turning to the others.

"Get the **FUCK** OUTTA HERE!"

"I-I'm sorry, Hershel…" Kenny stuttered.

"_Sorry_?! You don't **GET** to be sorry!" Hershel shouted. He turned to Lee. "And you…you didn't even **TRY** to help him!"

"I was worried about the little boy…" Lee said ashamed he couldn't save Shawn.

"But you weren't worried about _that_." Hershel angrily pointed at Shawn. He turned away solemnly. "Just go…" He took a breath. "Get out, and _never_ come back."

Silence again. Kenny approached Lee and waited a second.

"…you've got that ride to Macon if you want it."

**-(End Of Chapter)-**


	6. Act 1-Part 5: Welcome Home

**A New Day – Act I – A New Day**

**Part V: Welcome "Home"**

As Kenny's blue pickup halted to a stop in the streets of Macon, Dipper looked around at the abandoned, desolate city through the backseat windows. Buildings were dilapidated, windows were broken or boarded up, and cars abandoned everywhere.

It looked like hell.

By the time they arrived, it became early evening outside. The sky turned orange as it began to darken, and the clouds were gray from the light and shadows.

"Well, this is as far as we're going." Dipper heard Kenny mutter.

"Then it's far enough." Lee opened the passenger side door and got out of the pickup, followed by Clementine. The right side door in back opened as Katjaa and Duck got out. Dipper opened the left side door and got out, followed by a somewhat enthusiastic Mabel. Sometimes Dipper questioned her behavior.

They all walked down the road towards a large drugstore. Clementine stayed close to Lee while Dipper and Mabel wondered in front, Kenny and his family in the middle. Clementine stopped in front of the large drugstore. Lee knelt down next to her and they talked, though Dipper couldn't quite hear what they were saying.

Judging by Lee's expression, he probably didn't want to know.

The by caught up with his sister and Duck, while Kenny and Katjaa looked around from close behind. Something caught Duck's eye.

"Hey, look!" He grinned and pointed to a car with what appeared to be someone scavenging it. Kenny began to wave his arms and holler out to the man. It was just now that Dipper noticed his southern "redneck" accent.

"Hey there! You friendly? Truck's run outta gas!"

The man pulled himself up, clinging on to human flesh. His boney mouth appeared to be an emotionless smile, though Dipper couldn't tell, but he thought about it. The limbs were broken and thin while the man had no left hand.

Walker.

"FUCK!" Kenny shouted. He and Katjaa backed away as walkers started to surround the group. Dipper reached for the hatchet but realized that there were too many to try and attack. Walkers crawled out from all different places, under cars, out of windows and walls, trying to attack and devour the survivors.

"We're trapped!" Katjaa panicked.

Then Duck screamed.

The boy tripped and fell, a walker on top of him about to tear into his neck. "AHHH! NO! NO!"

Then a gunshot sounded as the walker was killed.

A woman appeared with short, shoulder length brown hair and a white button-up shirt with a black miniskirt. She held a gun in her hands as she shot at the walkers. Duck got up, covered in blood and guts, and ran to his parents, who embraced him in a tight hug.

"Run!" Another man appeared. He appeared to be Korean, wearing a red shirt with yellow markings under a brown leather jacket and blue jeans. On his head was a white ball cap with a blue rim, though it didn't look like Clementine's hat.

Dipper turned as he was thrown off guard by the walkers, hearing the man call out and the woman shooting her gun. Then he felt his arm being grabbed as he was taken to the ground by a walker. He screamed and struggled, trying not to get bit or torn apart.

Then he heard the sound of a gunshot as the walker fell dead. At first, he thought it was the woman. When he looked up—

"Dipper?"

"Robbie?" Dipper was surprised to see the gothic seventeen-year-old he knew from Gravity Falls. They were enemies, sure, but now was not the time for Dipper to bring that up.

"We'll talk later." Robbie muttered, reloading a small silver revolver. "Just get inside the drugstore! Go!" He shot at a few more walkers as he backed away towards the drugstore.

Dipper wondered if Robbie was on the bus that fateful day. He realized Mabel was nowhere in sight.

"Mabel!" He called out. Mabel was taken to the ground by a walker as well, about to be devoured, when a sickening stab sounded as the walker fell dead. Mabel got up and saw a knife in the back of its head.

"Mabel?" The girl looked up and smiled at the familiar face she saw.

"Wendy!"

The teenage redhead from Gravity Falls indeed stood there. One of Mabel's many friends and one of her coworkers. Wendy ripped the knife out of the walker's head, then grabbed a black handgun from her pocket, shooting at the walkers. Only two of them fell down, Mabel guessed Wendy was a bad shot with guns.

But she knew she had to get inside the drugstore. She ran to the entrance and saw Dipper and Robbie running inside, followed by Lee and Clementine. Before she knew it, she and Wendy were inside with everyone else. They saw even more knew faces, all of them she hadn't seen before.

Then the shouting started.

::::

"We can't take risks like this!" A woman with a brown tank-top shouted. She had long brown hair, going down to a third of her back.

"And we can't just let people die, either!" The woman from before shouted back.

"When I SAY "that door stays shut no matter what", I fucking MEAN it!" The long-haired woman shouted. They were shouting quietly, trying not to make noise. "We don't know who these people are; they could be dangerous!"

"Worse, they could've lead them right to us." An older, senior man said angrily. He had light gray hair and a blue shirt.

"Where's your humanity?!" The gun woman said in disbelief and anger. "They could've died out there!"

"Then we let them." The man replied.

"We're not dangerous; we're just regular folks." Lee said. "Besides, we've got kids with us!"

"I see two girls and one boy." The older man said angrily. Clementine tugged on Lee's arm.

"What is it?" Lee asked the girl.

"I…I have to pee." The girl said nervously.

"In a minute Clem." Lee said. Mabel took Clementine's hand.

"Come on, let's go together." She said with an enthusiastic smile. Though inside, Mabel really wanted everyone to stop yelling and think reasonably.

"They've got kids Lilly." The Korean man said to the long haired woman, referring to her by name.

"Those things outside don't care." Lilly said back angrily.

"Maybe you should go join 'em, then." Kenny said. "You'll have something in common!"

"Goddammit Lilly, you have to control these people!" The older man said.

"Carley, Wendy, Robbie, and Glenn just ran out there!" Lilly said back. "I didn't even have a choice in the matter!"

"I don't give a flying fuck!" The older man said. "We're in a warzone!"

"Hey everyone just calm down!" Robbie said. "This argument is pointless!"

"It's not pointless, Robbie!" Lilly said. "Now just shut the hell up!" Robbie shot her a glare.

"She's not wrong. They took a risk!" Lee said.

"Yes we did." Lilly said.

"And we appreciate it." Lee said. "Now let's settle down." The older man's eyes set on Duck.

"Holy SHIT." He muttered, his eyes widening. "Son of a bitch, one of them is BITTEN!"

"He wasn't bitten." Lee defended.

"Hell he wasn't!" The older man said. He walked over to Duck. "We have to end this, now." Kenny stepped in front of him.

"Over my dead body."

"We'll dig one hole." The older man said.

"No! I'm cleaning him up!" Katjaa said. "There's no bite! He's fine!"

"Don't you fucking people get it? We've already SEEN this happen!" The older man shouted. "We let someone with a bite stay and—and, WE all end up bitten!"

"Shut up!" Kenny said.

"We gotta throw him out! Or smash his head in!" The older man said.

"KENNY! STOP HIM!" Katjaa shouted.

"Lee, what do we do about this guy?" Kenny asked.

"It's either him or your son! I say it's him!" Lee defended Kenny and Duck.

"Goddamn right; out on HIS ass with those THINGS!" Kenny said, glaring at the old man.

"Everyone CHILL THE FUCK OUT!" The gunwoman known as Carley shouted.

"Yeah, you guys are just overreacting!" Wendy shouted. "Especially you, Larry!" She glared at the older man.

"Nobody is doing ANYTHING." Lilly shot the two glares.

"Shut up, Lilly!" The older man called Larry shouted. He turned to Carley. "And YOU. Shut the fuck up. They will find us, and they will get in here, and none of this will fucking matter! But right now, we're about to be TRAPPED in here with one of those THINGS!"

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Kenny asked angrily.

"He's BITTEN! That's how you TURN!" Larry shouted back.

"He's not bitten!" Katjaa said as she wiped blood off of Duck's face. "Lee, stop this! It's upsetting him!"

"Oh, I'm "upsetting" him?" Larry asked sarcastically. "Upsetting is getting eaten alive!"

"It's Larry, right?" Lee began. "Man this is his son."

"Look around, dumbass. I got a daughter in here-" Larry gestured to Lilly. "—YOU got a daughter in here. Get your head out of your ass, boy."

"We've all got people in here!" Lee narrowed his eyes. "And we can figure this out without killing anybody! There's another way!"

"Yeah, with a shovel." Larry muttered, turning back to Kenny and Duck.

"I'm gonna kill him, Kat! Just worry about Duck!" Kenny said.

"Lee?" Clementine called out from another part of the store. Lee could make out her and Mabel's figures by a door.

"Yeah?" Lee called back.

"There's someone in there." Clementine said nervously.

"It's just locked." Lee replied. "Key's behind the counter. Probably."

"Hey, I'm not the bad guy here, I'm just looking out for my daughter!" Larry said angrily, gesturing to Lilly again.

"No, you're just the guy arguing for killing a kid!" Kenny shouted back.

"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite. WATCH." Larry said angrily.

"She WON'T!" Kenny said angrily.

"And if she does?" Larry replied. Everyone went silent. "The first thing he'll do is sink he's teeth into his mom's face. Then, once she's dead, he'll probably pounce on YOUR little girl!" He glared at Lee. "She'll turn fast. Then, there'll be three of them, and that, boy, is the ballgame!"

"He's a little boy; I think we can handle him." Lee said.

"A little boy? He'll be an uncontrollable man eater!" Larry said.

"It's not gonna happen!" Kenny shouted.

"It is, and we're tossing him out NOW!" Larry shouted angrily.

"Knock this guy out!" Lee shouted.

"Happily." Kenny muttered. He threw a punch that connected with Larry's face.

"Jesus!" Lilly muttered in surprise. Larry retaliated by punching Kenny square in the temple, sending him to the ground barely conscious.

"AHHH!"

Everyone heard Clementine and Mabel scream.

The bathroom door had opened and a live walker had come out of the door, trying to attack the girls.

"Jesus!" Larry yelled.

"CLEMENTINE! MABEL!" Lee ran towards the girls but tripped. He fell to the ground in a daze as he watched the walker about to bite Clementine. Mabel was trying to pull the girl away but with little luck. Lee quickly got up and ran towards the walker, smashing it against the wall. "Get away from them, you son of a bitch!" The walker forced itself on to Lee, who struggled with it before a gunshot sounded. The walker fell to the ground.

Dead.

Silence.

Carley lowered her gun as smoke came out of it, her eyes wide. "You okay?"

"Just great, thanks…" Lee muttered, huffing a breath. Mabel ran to Dipper while Clementine went back to Lee.

"Uh…guys?" The Korean man named Glenn muttered. Walkers began to attack the outside walls, trying to get inside to the source of the noise.

"Everybody DOWN! Stay QUIET!" Lilly whispered. Everyone ducked down and hid low.

"They're gonna get in!" Larry muttered.

"SHUT UP." Kenny whispered loudly.

Then more gunshots. Loud and fast, not from a handgun or revolver.

"Is that the military?" Lee asked.

"I don't know." Wendy muttered.

"Thank God for whatever it is." Robbie muttered.

"We almost DIED because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger!" Larry said angrily as he got up and walked around. "That was stupid! That was—" He let out a cry of pain and grasped his heart, falling to the ground.

"DAD!" Lilly ran over to Larry and knelt by him.

"What's wrong with him?!" Dipper finally spoke up during the argument.

"It's his heart!" Lilly glared.

"My pills…" Larry muttered in pain.

"Uh, nitroglycerin pills?" Katjaa asked.

"Yes, we're out." Lilly stood up. "We've been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here! Please, try to get in there! Behind the counter, where the pills are!"

"There's probably another entrance." Lee said. "Maybe through the office." He pointed to a door.

"How do you know that's an office?" Carley asked with suspicion.

"Uh, educated guess." Lee answered.

"It doesn't matter." Lilly said. "We need nitroglycerin pills. Please get in there. I'll keep an eye on my dad."

"Everyone else should get comfy and look for anything useful." Kenny said "We could be in here a while."

"I'm starting to think this drugstore isn't a permanent solution." Glenn said.

"You're right." Kenny agreed. "This ain't exactly Fort Knox."

"What do you suggest?" Lee asked Glenn.

"We need as much gas as possible so we can ALL get out of downtown Macon. Fast." Glenn said.

"Agreed." Lee said.

"Then I'll head out and get gas." Glenn said. "There's a motel not too far from here, out towards the end of Peachtree. I'll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can."

"You're insane." Lee said.

"Well, it's gotta get done." Glenn said. "Plus. I'm quick and I know Macon."

"Local?" Lee asked. Glenn smiled.

"Born and raised." He said.

"If you're gonna do that, here's a walkie-talkie if you get in a tight spot. Hopefully, you won't need it." Lee handed the walkie-talkie Dipper found a few days ago to Glenn.

"Cool." Glenn said, attaching the walkie-talkie to his pant-rim.

"Clementine's got the other one, so check in with her and get back here as soon as you can." Lee added.

"And you, what's your name?" Kenny gestured to Lilly.

"It's Lilly. My dad's Larry." Lilly muttered as she propped her father against a wall and gave him space to breathe.

"Keep a good eye on him." Kenny said. "These boys will work on getting you your medicine."

"That's right." Lee added.

"And you—" Kenny pointed to a man in a green tee-shirt with a light brown comb over and black shorts. "You keep an eye on that front door. You're our lookout."

"It's Doug, you got it." The man said.

"And I'm Carley." Carley said.

"Okay, Carley, you'll shift in with Doug when he needs it." Kenny said. "For now, get some rest. You're a good shot, I'd like to keep it that way."

"You got it boss." Carley said. Lilly glared at her and Kenny. Kenny looked around one more time before he looked at Larry once more.

"Now get him those pills."

**-(End Of Chapter)-**


	7. Act 1-Part 6: Two Enter, One Leaves

**A New Day – Act I – A New Day**

**Part VI: Two Enter, One Leaves**

After all the commotion ended and everything quieted down, Dipper finally managed to find the strength to ask questions rather than remain silent. Before he could ask any, though, Wendy and Robbie immediately approached him and Mabel.

"Well…hey, it's nice to see you guys." Wendy shrugged.

"So who're those people you were with?" Robbie asked with a somewhat serious tone. "Lilly's already pretty pissed, so it's probably best if you spill it quickly." He crossed his arms as his eyes narrowed, settling on Dipper.

"They're friends of ours." Dipper said. "They helped us make it here, and…yeah. That's about it."

"Where were you two anyway?" Wendy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No idea!" Mabel said enthusiastically. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"How did you two end up here?" He asked.

"We didn't even see you two in the wreck." Wendy stared at the ground feeling ashamed. "If we knew you guys were there, we would've taken you two with us to find help."

"Where was the bus going anyway?" Mabel asked. Wendy and Robbie shrugged.

"Can't remember, honestly." Robbie muttered.

"Was anyone else on the bus when you guys were there?" Dipper asked.

"Other than you two and the dead driver, no." Robbie said.

"Before the crash, it was us, you two, Soos, and Stan, I think." Wendy said. "Maybe more, but I honestly can't remember…" Dipper felt a little hurt at the mention of Soos and Stan. He hoped they were okay.

"Anyways, you guys should get comfy, I guess." Robbie said, starting to walk off. "The drugstore is on lockdown, so there's no going anywhere." Dipper rolled his eyes again.

_Not like I'd want to go anywhere…_

"It's cool to see you guys alive…" Wendy stopped. "Is that my hatchet?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Dipper realized he still had it on him. "I was using it to defend myself but you can—"

"Keep it." Wendy said.

"Huh?"

"I said keep it." Wendy smiled. "You need it more than I do. Last time I checked, you can't shoot."

"Neither can you." Mabel muttered, then walking off.

"I'll see you around." Wendy walked off to talk with the other group members.

Dipper wanted to write in the journal, but he was too stressed and tired from today's events. Shawn dying, walker attack, argument, Mabel and Clementine almost getting eaten, man with a bad heart collapsing, it was all too much for him to comprehend.

So he did the only thing he could.

He sat against a wall, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

* * *

_RiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGG_

He thought the alarm was only in his mind, but he was wrong. So very wrong.

Dipper jolted awake, the alarm now fresh into the world. He looked around and waited for his blurry vision to adjust. People running, Larry moving around, yelling, screaming, gunshots. It was like Dipper just woke up in hell.

But he already did that a few days ago.

He watched Kenny sprint past him in a blur, walkers banging on boards and trying to get inside. He really wished his vision would focus so he could run and get Mabel—

Mabel. Where in this hell-bent on killing world was **Mabel**?!

Frantically looking around, he noticed his sister trying to fend off a walker with a piece of cardboard. Quickly running into action, Dipper slammed his hatchet into the walker's head, killing it and sending its decaying body to the floor.

"We have to run!" Mabel screamed in terror as she watched the walkers pile in to the drugstore. Wendy and Robbie were both shooting at the walkers that came in through the windows before sprinting out the back of the building towards Kenny's pickup. Mabel quickly followed, leaving Dipper behind. He failed to notice, however, as he continued chopping walkers in their heads. Glenn ran by the boy, and Dipper still wondered what the heck he slept through. As he continued killing off walkers, he heard screams.

Looking over, the boy saw Doug about to be pulled out of a window by walkers. Carley was about to be eaten as well, her gun out of ammo as she reached for a magazine from her purse. He was about to run and help when a pair of hands grabbed him.

"Come on boy, fucking move!"

Larry ran towards Kenny's truck with the 12-year-old in his grasp. The boy struggled to get away and try and save one of the two, but the man's grasp was too strong. He finally put him down outside the truck. Glenn had piled into a car of his own along with Lilly, and Larry got inside along with them. He was about to run back inside when Kenny pulled him into the truck and sat him between Clementine and Mabel. Looking out the back window, Dipper watched as Lee ran out of the drugstore followed by Carley, and only Carley.

Doug was most likely devoured, and all Dipper could do was sit in silence as both the pickup and Glenn's car sped away from the walker-infested drugstore. He slowly sunk back into his seat. He didn't get to know Carley or Doug, so it wasn't a huge loss that Doug was gone, but he was still upset to see a member of the group already dead, though after seeing Shawn devoured, the boy was rather indifferent. To take his mind off of things, he decided to stare out at the window at the empty sky, wondering what kind of sick, twisted hell he was soon to be entering.

That is if he hadn't entered it already.

But he was ready for it whenever it was to come.

**-(End Of Chapter)-**

**Quick A/N: Yes this chapter was pretty short, yes, but the next part will be the finale of Act I, so stay tuned!**


	8. Act 1-End: Everything's Going To Be Okay

**A New Day – Act I – A New Day**

**Part VII: Everything's Going To Be Okay**

As the two vehicles pulled into a location known as the Travelier Motel Motor Inn, Mabel tried her best to fall asleep, to hopefully wake up from this horrid nightmare. But sleep never came. Her brother hadn't said a word since they escaped the drugstore, neither had Clementine. In fact, nobody said anything.

She did assume, however, that Larry was screaming his head off in the other car.

When the truck and car finally stopped and everyone piled out, the adults split up in to groups that cleared out the dead corpses and organized what supplies they had. Mabel looked up at the second floor of the motor inn, seeing a large chunk destroyed, it's rubble lying in front of her. She didn't want to ask what happened here, she assumed it was something involving Lee, Carley, and Glenn, as those three had come to this place a little while ago.

"Hey sis."

Mabel turned to face Dipper, rubbing her eyes.

"A lot's happened."

"I know." The girl replied quietly. They were silent for a moment before Dipper held out something.

A small energy bar.

"It's not a lot, but I grabbed it from the drugstore before we left." He said. The girl stared at it before slowly taking it, unwrapping it, and biting a piece off.

"Tastes gooey." She muttered.

"Well we don't have a lot of food, best to ration it." Lee said as he came over. "How are you two doing?"

"Fine." Dipper muttered. "What happened back there?"

"I…had to make a tough choice." Lee said, staring at the ground for a moment. He crossed his arms as his gaze returned to the Pines twins. "You two sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Mabel said a bit too quickly.

"Alright then." Lee walked off towards Carley to check in with her. The twins noticed Glenn had taken off, overhearing him say something about finding his friends in Atlanta. Keny and Katjaa were sorting food, Carley was looking through some boxes, Clementine and Duck were talking, Larry was leaning against a wall, and Lilly was cleaning up the bodies.

"You need to learn to protect yourself." Dipper said.

"…I don't want to hurt anybody." Mabel muttered.

"You aren't hurting anyone." Dipper reassured. "I'm pretty sure walkers aren't people anymore."

"But…that's the thing." Mabel said. "Walkers are dead people…what about mom? Dad? Grunkle Stan? What if they're walkers?" She was tearing up, her voice cracking and become a little hysterical. Dipper pulled her into a hug.

"It'll be alright, I'm sure they're fine. We'll find them." He said. "But for now, we need to look out for each other. That's what we have to do." Mabel sniffled.

"…I know you're right, but I don't want you to be." She said. "I want to wake up tomorrow and be at home, in bed, with you and the cat nearby and mom and dad watching football downstairs."

"Maybe someday…" Dipper paused. "Maybe someday we can go back to that." He looked around. "But we need to forget that for now." They both saw Lee, Kenny, and Lilly talking by the front of the motor inn. Not having much else to talk about, the twins decided to join them. As they did, gunshots sounded.

"I hope that's the sound of us winning this thing." Kenny stated.

"Me too." Lilly agreed.

"This motor inn is pretty damn defendable." Kenny said. "We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch, then we could stay here until the military rolls through."

"I actually agree with that plan." Lilly said.

"Me too." Lee agreed.

"Well, we've got beds, we've got water, and most importantly, we've got light." Kenny said. "There are worse places to call home."

"Yeah, you're right." Lilly smiled. "You know guys, I think everything's going to be okay."

Then all of the streetlamps flickered before going out. Clementine ran to Lee as everything was engulfed in pitch-black darkness.

"Hey! Who the hell turned off all the lights?!" Robbie shouted.

**-(End Of Act I)-**

* * *

_I thought we'd be fine if we survived the walkers…_

_Never expected they'd starve us out._

* * *

Wendy knelt down in front of Dipper and reached into her pocket. She pulled out an energy bar, the wrapper smeared in dirt and blood. The boy grimaced at the sight.

"I want you to have this." She said. "Incase you or Mabel start feeling weak."

"You don't really owe me anything, Wendy." Dipper said with a small smile and a quick shake of his head.

* * *

Lee placed a hand on Clementine's shoulder as they both stared at the forest outside of the motor inn.

"How're you doing, Clementine?" Lee asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"I'm really hungry Lee…" Clementine said, holding her stomach as it growled.

* * *

"We gotta get food Lee, and soon." Kenny said, leaning against a wall. Lilly aimed her gun at two male survivors that approached the motor inn, ready to shoot incase of any danger.

* * *

The Macon survivors pushed the gates open to let the two inside.

"Howdy." One of them said, giving a small wave of his hand. "I'm Andrew St. John, and this here's my brother Dan." He turned his head to the side and gestured to the man beside him, who pushed past the gates of the motor inn to enter. Dipper slowly reached for his hatchet, just incase they tried to pull anything.

* * *

"We're from the St. John's Dairy."

Lee, Dipper, Andrew, and another man in glasses approached the dairy.

"It's beautiful." Lee commented as he looked around.

* * *

"I never did thank you for saving Duck from the walkers back at Hershel's farm." Katjaa told Lee, who smiled back at her.

* * *

"Something's coming, Lee." Kenny said as he stared out into the thick forest outside of the dairy. It was quiet, but he could sense oncoming danger looming amongst the vegetation. "There's gonna be war."

"The walkers don't worry me as much as the bandits." Lee said.

* * *

"You fucked with us!" A bandit shouted from the woods. He loaded another arrow into his crossbow and fired it, striking the tractor that Lee, Mabel, and the man with glasses hid behind.

"Mabel, where are you going?!" Lee shouted as Mabel quickly got up and ran into the cornfields, trying to make her way back to the dairy.

"Now we're gonna take what we want!" The bandit shouted again as he fired more arrows. The man in glasses tried to run to get Mabel, but then an arrow pierced his right shoulder, sending him to the ground.

* * *

"There's just too many of them!" Dipper shouted as he worriedly looked around at the walkers surrounding him and Lee. One tried to grab him, but Lee shot it with his rifle.

* * *

"You've never liked my dad!"

As Lee talked with Clementine at the motor in, Larry glared at him from the second story.

"Even back at the drug store when everyone thought Kenny's kid was bit, you went out of your way to side against him!"

* * *

"This isn't happening!" A teenage boy said in shock in disbelief. He continued firing his rifle at the oncoming walkers, shooting one in the head.

* * *

"No more, please…! No more, please!"

Lee raised up his axe, staring at the man before him, his leg trapped in a bear trap.

"Lee, please!" The man pleaded, his eyes shifting from Lee, to the axe, to his trapped leg, and back to Lee again. Lee tried to ignore his pleas.

He brought the fire-axe down.

**-(To Be Continued In Act II - Starved For Help)-**


	9. Act 2-Part 1: Going Hungry

**A New Day – Act II – Starved For Help**

**Part I: Going Hungry**

_Three Months Later_

The autumnal season had recently set in as a walker feasted on a newly caught meal in the middle of the forest. Something snuck up from behind, raising a large fire axe up and bringing it down on the walker's head, killing it. Lee pressed his foot on the body of the walker and pulled out the axe, holding it in both of his hands. Two figures approached him.

One was a man who looked about 24 or 25 years old with black hair, a pair of glasses, a black jacket with a wing design on the back, and black jeans. He was carrying a hunting rifle.

The other figure was a young boy, 12-years-old and wearing a blue and white hat with a blue pine tree on it. He wore a white undershirt under a forest green colored long-sleeve button-up shirt and blue jeans. He carried a small hatchet in his hands.

It was Dipper.

The boy had, by this point, grown accustomed to the world. He was used to the walkers, used to living without electricity, and used to not solving mysteries back in Gravity Falls.

"Damn it." He muttered, his eyes narrowing. "What'd they get this time?"

He was also used to swearing.

"Looks like a rabbit." Lee muttered in response.

"Aw shit." The man in glasses said. "That's another meal lost."

"Don't sweat it, Mark." Dipper said. "A rabbit isn't big of a meal, and besides, there has to be more." They all started walking into the woods.

"I still can't believe we went through all that commissary food in three months…" Mark said in slight disbelief. "It seemed like so much at the time."

"Well maybe we would've had more if you didn't open the door back at the air-force base." Lee said.

"Yeah, but then I'd probably _be_ food by now." Mark said. "I got pretty damn lucky back there, and trust me, I've got no regrets."

"A rabbit's hardly a meal, Mark." Lee sad. "But I'd take it. We're all hungry."

"No kidding." Mark said.

"How much food do we have left anyways?" Dipper chimed in.

"You'll have to ask Lilly about that, Dipper." Lee said. "She's the one handling the rations."

"Or mishandling them, if you ask me." Mark said. "She gives enough, sure, but she gives more to her dad. I know they're family, and that Lilly thinks he's getting weaker, but the guy's all muscle. He's a walking pile driver." He took a quick breath. "I know I wouldn't want to be stuck in a room with him…" He turned to Lee. "And didn't he punch you in the face one time?"

"Knocked me flat." Lee muttered in slight annoyance. Larry got on everyone's nerves.

Except Mabel. He seemed to like her enthusiasm.

"What's that guy's problem with you anyway?" Mark asked. Lee thought for a second.

"He's just an old racist asshole, that's his deal." Lee said.

"Well he needs to get over that and start finding a way to pull his weight." Mark said. "Heart problems or not, all of us should be out here hunting for food."

They walked in silence.

"Last night, when I accidentally reached for Carley's ration, I thought she was gonna take off my hand." Mark said. "Then I bumped into Robbie trying to get away, and he accused me of trying to steal _his _ration, ended up almost shooting me."

"We're all on edge, Mark. Cut 'em some slack." Lee said. "Carley's been stressed about the drugstore and Robbie's been stressed about what happened two weeks ago."

"What _did _happen two weeks ago?" Dipper asked. He knew Robbie, Lee, and Kenny went out a supply run, but they came back with Robbie all miserable.

"Out on the run, we found a ton of stuff." Lee said. "On our way back, we found an old factory type place. We found more supplies in there, and Robbie was carrying them back when the floor gave way. Robbie almost fell to his death. We saved him, but we lost the supplies in the process. He felt responsible for a while, seems to have gotten over it by now, though I'm not entirely sure."

"That explains why he was so silent and concealed when I first arrived…" Mark muttered. "Speaking of Robbie, do you think he and Kenny are having any luck out here?"

"I hope so." Lee muttered.

"Things are getting pretty tense back at the motor inn, thanks to Kenny and Lilly constantly arguing." Dipper said. "I've heard that Kenny plans on leaving if he can get that RV running."

"He's just trying to protect his family, so I get why he wants to leave." Lee said. "Either that, or he wants to run over Lilly and Larry." He smirked and got a few snickers from the others.

A bird flew overhead, landing on a branch almost directly above the three. They all knelt down as Mark aimed his rifle at it.

"Don't." Lee said quickly. "Gunshot will bring walkers. One bird's not worth it."

"Yeah, I know." Mark lowered his rifle. "I'm just…really freaking hungry."

Silence. Then the bird flew away as a scream of bloody murder filled the air.

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Shit, was that Kenny?!" Mark asked as everyone quickly got to their feet.

"I don't know, come on!" Lee rushed forward, followed by Mark and Dipper, running in the direction of the scream.

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yet another scream filled the air.

"This way!" Lee turned left and the others followed suite.

Finally, the three arrived in a small clearing. Three people were there, two teens and one adult, all wearing blue jackets with the words 'Stone Mountain High' embedded on them. The adult was on the ground, having reddish-orange hair and a connecting stache and beard of the same color. One teen with black hair (who will be called Teen 1 for now) was hunched over at the man's side. The second teen (Teen 2) had dirty blonde hair and was standing close by, somewhat visible stubble on his chin and under his nose. The man's ankle was caught in what appeared to be a rusty old bear trap. He let out another small cry of pain as he grasped his leg.

"Jesus Christ…" Mark said in shock. The teens nearly jumped in surprise as they faced the three.

"Oh shit! Please, don't kill us! We just want to get our teacher out, then we'll leave, I swear!" Teen 1 pleaded.

"Lee!"

The three turned to see Kenny and Robbie sprinting towards them. Kenny now wore a green shirt with beige undersleeves while Robbie had on a dark brown coat with a hood. Kenny held a hunting rifle while Robbie held a machete, his revolver in his side pocket.

"You guys okay?" Kenny asked.

"Get it off, god damn it, just get it off!" The man pleaded.

"Shit, what happened?!" Robbie asked.

"It's okay!" Lee said to the teens. "We're not gonna hurt you!"

"Don't listen to them, Ben!" Teen 1 said to Teen 2. "These might be the guys who raided our camp, and we barely got away from that!"

"What guys?" Mark asked.

"Why the fuck is there a bear trap out here?!" Kenny asked in confusion and a little bit of anger.

"Don't kill us, we didn't do anything to you!" Teen 1 shouted.

"Kid, chill out! We'll try to help ya, but you gotta shut the fuck up!" Kenny said in annoyance.

"Lee, this is fucked up! What do we do about this?" Mark asked.

"Travis, maybe they can help!" Teen 1, aka Ben, said.

"Ben, shut up!" Teen 2 (Travis) said. "My dad was Special Forces, I know what I'm doing!"

"Just see if you can get him out! After that, you can leave us, or whatever, I don't care!" Ben pleaded. "Just please help!"

"We gotta get him out of there!" Lee said to Mark and the others.

"I'll check if there's a latch!" Dipper knelt by the trap.

"Oh thank you, dear God thank you!" The man said.

"Fine, but you gotta hurry!" Kenny said.

"Hurry, please, hurry!" The man said.

"Oh no…" Travis muttered. Walkers were starting to approach the survivors from beyond the trees.

"Shit, walkers! It's now or never Lee!" Kenny started shooting at the walkers. Robbie pulled out his revolver and did the same.

"Lee, there's no latch! This trap's been altered!" Dipper said, stepping away.

"Mark, get the boys back!" Lee said. "Kenny! Robbie! Keep those walkers off of us!"

Dipper reached into his back pocket, feeling the handle of the gun he grabbed on his first supply run, couple months back. Over the course of the three months, Lilly had been training members of the group on how to shoot properly and perfecting accuracy, and though it took a bit of begging and convincing, Dipper eventually joined in the training. He wasn't the best shot in the world, but he knew how to shoot properly at least.

Now he had to teach Mabel whenever he could find time.

As he shot at the walkers (missing a bunch of times before his magazine became empty, only managing to kill four), he heard Lee mutter something to the man.

"I'm gonna have to cut you out."

"No no no! Try the trap again! Anything, please!" The man pleaded like he was about to be hanged.

"I'm sorry…" Lee muttered. He stood up, raised his axe, and brought it down on the man's leg.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Blood sprayed everywhere as Dipper tried to hold his gut together, hoping he wouldn't vomit. The single cut wasn't enough to free the man, though.

"Fuck, hurry up Lee!" Kenny lowered his gun. "I'm just wasting ammo by now!"

"Shit, I'm out!" Robbie's revolver clicked. "Lee, this has to be now!"

Lee brought his axe down again.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

And again.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

And one final time.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Blood pooled and sprayed everywhere. The man's leg was free, but he passed out quickly.

"Shit! Is he…?" Dipper muttered. Quickly after asking, though, he lurched over to the side and vomited, disgusted at the sight.

"If he's alive, grab him and let's go!" Kenny shouted, shooting one final time at the walkers before sprinting off towards the motor inn, followed by Mark, who carried the man. Ben went next and then Lee. Dipper was about to follow when he noticed Travis wasn't with them. Turning, he saw the boy puking near a rock. A walker was behind him, about to attack.

"Hey! Behind you!" Lee shouted.

"Travis!" Ben shouted. The boy turned as the walker came upon him. He struggled in fear of the walker attacking. Dipper raised his gun.

_Shit…this is too risky! Do I take the shot? What if I miss?! I either kill the walker or miss…shit, what do I do?!_

It was now or never. The boy pulled the trigger.

He watched the bullet zip forward.

It pierced the teenage boy's head. Blood spurted out of the hole in the back of his head as he fell to the ground, dead, allowing the walker's to feast on his corpse. Dipper nearly dropped his gun as he was frozen in place, his eyes widening.

"NOOO!" Ben shouted, but Lee pulled him away.

Dipper then turned to run, the feeling of trauma overcoming him. Following the others, he was lost in thought as he ran.

_I just killed a live human…I'm a murderer, a cold-blooded killer!_

Then, as he ran, he wanted to cry. But for some reason, he didn't.

**-(End Of Chapter)-**


End file.
